A Walking Oxymoron

Sometimes I feel like I am a walking oxymoron. I am both a mainline Christian and an evangelical Christian. At the same time I am indifferent toward or reject aspects of mainline Christianity and aspects of evangelical Christianity. I like to say I am only a Christian and that I need no modifier to explain my faith. Yet I get cornered into situations where I get labeled as either one or the other or am pushed to say certain things that make it seem as though I identify with one over the other.

In my inbox right now I have an email from a mainline church that references my role on their evangelism team and an email from an evangelical church that references my role as a facilitator at their evangelism training. This is craziness! It is craziness, because I suspect each church would be uncomfortable with the other church's methods of evangelism. So I wonder - is there something wrong with me? Why is it that I can identify with both methodologies and both messages and see the strengths and weaknesses in each? Am I being a hypocrite? Am I being the same person in both places? I believe in and applaud aspects of each church's evangelism program and I am uncomfortable with aspects of each program as well. Yet the role I am called to in each (I think) allows me to live out my faith and the spiritual gifts that God has given me in a manner that lifts up the Church.

I suppose I have some fear as to how each community might view the fact that I am able to serve on evangelism teams at both churches. Does that say more about me or more about the Church? Is this an identity crisis or is this a prophetic mission?

- Confused and Trying to Discern

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